Noguera



Sept. 9, 1958 J. NOGUERA 2,850,770

DRAFTING MECHANISMS FOR TEXTILE FIBRES Filed Jan. 6, 1955 United StatesPatent DRAFTING MECHANISMS FOR TEXTILE FIBRES Joseph Noguera, Salford,Manchester, England, assignor to Casablancas High Draft Company Limited,Salford, Manchester, England, a British company Application January 6,1953, Serial No. 329,847

Claims priority, application Great Britain January 30, 1952 5 Claims.(Cl. 19-135) This invention relates to drafting mechanisms for textilefibres of the kind employing a number of roller drafting systemsarranged side by side and each composed of consecutive pairs of rollers,the top rollers of adjoining systems being carried and weighted from thecentre by a weighting arm pivotally mounted on a member fixed at therear of the mechanism.

In such known mechanisms the weighted arm can be raised or lowered aboutits pivot, but it cannot be removed bodily from the mechanism withoutconsiderable dismantling. This limitation has certain obviousdisadvantages, from the point of view of both initial fitting andmaintenance of the arm, and a main object of the invention is toovercome such disadvantages by a'simple and efficient construction whichpermits ready removal and replacement of the arm with a minimum ofmanipulation and without the use of tools.

According to the present invention, there is provided a drafting.mechanism of thekind specified wherein atop roller weighting andcarrying arm is adapted for removable engagement on a pivotal mountingat the rear of the mechanism, catch means being provided for releasablyretaining the said arm on its mounting.

According to a more limited aspect of the invention, the top rollerweighting and carrying arm is adapted for removable retention on apivotal mounting at the rear of the mechanism by the engagement, oversaid mounting, of downwardly directed open-mouthed slots in said arm,and by a pivotable catch member on the arm which engages partiallyaround said mounting when the arm is positioned thereon, said catchmember being manually displaceable from the engaging position to permitbodily withdrawal of the arm from its mounting.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect one embodiment thereof will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a sideelevational view, partially in section and partially broken away,showing a weighting and carrying arm mounted, in accordance with theinvention, in an operative position on a drafting mechanism, bottomdrafting rollers of the mechanism being indicated diagrammatically inchain-dotted lines and parts of the mechanism having no bearing on theinvention being omitted.

In the illustrated embodiment, the invention is applied to a weightingand carrying arm 1 adapted for use with adjoining drafting systems in adrafting mechanism, each system having three consecutive pairs ofco-operating drafting rollers 2, 3 and 4. The arm 1 has side Walls Inbetween which a saddle assembly is secured. This assembly includes afront saddle 5, which carries and weights the top rollers of the frontroller pairs 2 and a rear saddle 6 which carries and weights the toprollers of the rear roller pairs 3 and 4. The saddle assembly is notillustrated in detail since it forms no part of the present invention.It should also be appreciated that an arm Patented Sept. 9, 1958 2incorporating the invention is not limited to use with systems havingthree consecutive roller pairs.

At or near the rear end of the arm 1, the side walls 1a are formed withdownwardly directed aligned slots 7, the mouths of which open into thefree under edges of the respective side walls In. These slots 7 are foruse in locating the arm on the drafting mechanism as will become clearfrom the following description- Clamped onto a bar 8 fixed at the rearof the drafting mechanism and having its axis extending substantiallyparallel to the axes of the drafting roller pairs 2, 3 and 4 is abracket composed of a pair of spaced parallel side plates 9 whichproject upwardly from the bar 8 and carry a pivot pin 10 therebetween.This pin 10 is arranged with its axis approximately parallel to the axisof the bar 8 and is appropriately proportioned to engage the arm slots 7and provide a pivotal mounting for the weighting arm. I

Arranged between the weighting arm sidewalls 1a, immediately above theaforesaid slots 7,.is a transverse pin 11 pivotally carrying a hook-likecatch member 12 which is shaped to engage around the pivot pin 10. whenthe slots 7 in the arm side walls 1a are positioned thereon. The catchmember 12 is influenced by a spring 13 which is mounted on the pin 11and has one end 13a engaging a neck portion 12a of the catch memberandanother end 13b bearing on a transverse pin 14 mounted between thearm side walls In in front of the pin 11. This arrangement of the spring13 tends normally tohold the catch member 12 in a position forengagement with the. pivot pin 10, rotation of the catch member underits spring influence being limited by abutment of the neck portion 12aof the I catch member against a rearwall part of the arm 1. i The catchmember 12 is provided with a t ail portion 12b behind the hook part,which provides a cam surface to facilitate initial engagement of the armon its mounting as will be later explained. This tail part 121; of thecatch member lies partially within a slot 1b formed at the rear end ofthe cover portion of the arm i. e. that portion of the arm walling whichcloses the top and ends of the arm between the side walls In. Theextremity of the tail part 12b projects beyond the confines of the arm,as shown, to facilitate manual manipulation of the catch member.

The arm is engaged between its supporting bracket under the influence ofits spring 13 to engage partially around the pivot pin 10.

Once the arm is in position as aforesaid on its pivotal mounting it canbe freely turned about the latter but is positively held against removalor withdrawal by means of the catch member, and cannot be freed so longas the catch remains in the engaging position. If, however, it isdesired to remove the arm bodily from between the supporting bracketplates 9, all that is necessary is to turn the arm upwardly about itspivotal mounting, and then, by grasping the tail portion 12b of thecatch member, to unhook the latter manually from the pivot pin 10. Oncethis has been done, the weighting and carrying arm can be removed fromthe mechanism since the slots 7 can be freely withdrawn from engagementwith the pivot pin 10. At the same time, on release of the catch member,the latter will return under its spring influence to the engagingposition where it is ready to re-engage the pivot pin 16 when the arm isreplaced.

A great advantage of the arrangement for mounting the arm according tothe invention lies in the fact that, should anything go wrong with theweighting mechanism, which is normally incorporated in the arm and formsno part of the present invention, the arm can be removed as a completeunit and readily replaced by another arm. The initial fitting of theequipment on the mechanism is also simplified since the rear bracketfixtures can all be set in a pre-deterrnined position by means of agauge on the bottom roller of the front roller pair 2, and the arms thensubsequently positioned thereon.

I claim:

1. For a drafting mechanism, a channel-section roller weighting andcarrying arm having registering slots opening through the respectivefree side wall edges adjacent the rear ends thereof for invertedengagement over a fixed pivotal mounting on the mechanism, and amanually releasable spring influenced catch member mounted be- .tweenthe arm sidewalls to depend between said slots and adapted to hookaround said mounting under said spring influence, when the mounting isentered into the slots, so as to prevent withdrawal of the arm from saidmounting without hindering pivotal movement of the arm about themounting.

2. A channel-section roller weighting arm as claimed in claim 1 in whichsaid catch member has a hook part for said hooking around said mountingand a cam surface which is adapted to ride over the pivotal mountingduring positioning of the arm, thereby swinging said catch member asideagainst its spring influence until said hook part of said catch membercan move into engagement with the mounting.

3. A channel-section roller weighting arm as claimed in claim 2 whereinsaid catch member has a tail portion projecting beyond the confines ofthe arm to facilitate manual release of the catch member from saidpivotal mounting and thereby permit free withdrawal of the arm.

4. In a drafting mechanism of the kind described having a top rollerweighting and carrying arm provided with a stop and downwardly extendingfree side walls having registering slots opening through the free edgesof said side walls, a pivotal mounting for said arm comprising a fixedpivot member for the rear arm end adapted to enter the slots, anddependent catch means for retaining the arm on the fixed pivot member inall positions of pivotal adjustment of the arm, comprising a pivotedmember pivoted on said arm between said side walls and having a neckportion and a dependent hook part adapted to releasably engage partiallyaround said fixed pivot member, a spring adapted to urge said neckportion towards said stop and said hook part into engagement with saidfixed pivot member when the latter is engaged in said slots.

5. A pivoted mounting as claimed in claim 4 wherein said pivoted memberhas a tail portion accessibly positioned for manual manipulation torelease the pivotal member from said fixed pivot member to permit freewithdrawal of the arm from the fixed pivot member, said tail portion hasa cam surface thereon adapted to ride over said fixed pivot member, whenthe latter is entered into said slots to position the arm, and therebyto swing the hook part clear of said fixed pivot member, against saidspring influence, until said fixed pivot member is fully home in theslots, whereupon said hook part is automatically urged by said springinto engagement with the fixed pivot member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,120,103 Linde June 7, 1938 2,143,996 Orrell Ian. 17, 1939 2,306,849Toenniessen Dec. 29, 1942 2,353,338 Hess July 11, 1944 2,508,964 NaegliMay 23, 1950 2,601,705 Stahlecker July 1, 1952

